The moral implications of Kierkegaard's analysis of despair

Sharon Krishek

doi:10.1017/S0034412514000511

The moral implications of Kierkegaard's analysis of despair

Sharon Krishek^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death famously characterizes despair as the sickness of any human being who does not live a life of faith. Kierkegaard supports this claim by providing a detailed analysis of despair in the first part of this essay. This analysis, I claim, presents the thesis that to be healed of despair is not only to maintain a correct relation to God but also to the world and, moreover, that the two relations are interdependent. Thus, in contrast to prominent readings of this essay, I claim that Kierkegaard's analysis of despair bears the important moral implication that a believer's relationship with other humans is indispensable to a life of faith.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	25-43
Number of pages	19
Journal	Religious Studies
Volume	52
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412514000511
State	Published - 1 Mar 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014.

Access to Document

10.1017/S0034412514000511

Cite this

@article{cb97e4e907da4c5bb25cd7ae37824730,

title = "The moral implications of Kierkegaard's analysis of despair",

abstract = "Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death famously characterizes despair as the sickness of any human being who does not live a life of faith. Kierkegaard supports this claim by providing a detailed analysis of despair in the first part of this essay. This analysis, I claim, presents the thesis that to be healed of despair is not only to maintain a correct relation to God but also to the world and, moreover, that the two relations are interdependent. Thus, in contrast to prominent readings of this essay, I claim that Kierkegaard's analysis of despair bears the important moral implication that a believer's relationship with other humans is indispensable to a life of faith.",

author = "Sharon Krishek",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} Cambridge University Press 2014.",

year = "2016",

month = mar,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1017/S0034412514000511",

language = "American English",

volume = "52",

pages = "25--43",

journal = "Religious Studies",

issn = "0034-4125",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The moral implications of Kierkegaard's analysis of despair

AU - Krishek, Sharon

PY - 2016/3/1

Y1 - 2016/3/1

N2 - Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death famously characterizes despair as the sickness of any human being who does not live a life of faith. Kierkegaard supports this claim by providing a detailed analysis of despair in the first part of this essay. This analysis, I claim, presents the thesis that to be healed of despair is not only to maintain a correct relation to God but also to the world and, moreover, that the two relations are interdependent. Thus, in contrast to prominent readings of this essay, I claim that Kierkegaard's analysis of despair bears the important moral implication that a believer's relationship with other humans is indispensable to a life of faith.

AB - Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death famously characterizes despair as the sickness of any human being who does not live a life of faith. Kierkegaard supports this claim by providing a detailed analysis of despair in the first part of this essay. This analysis, I claim, presents the thesis that to be healed of despair is not only to maintain a correct relation to God but also to the world and, moreover, that the two relations are interdependent. Thus, in contrast to prominent readings of this essay, I claim that Kierkegaard's analysis of despair bears the important moral implication that a believer's relationship with other humans is indispensable to a life of faith.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84963623024&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/S0034412514000511

DO - 10.1017/S0034412514000511

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84963623024

SN - 0034-4125

VL - 52

SP - 25

EP - 43

JO - Religious Studies

JF - Religious Studies

IS - 1

ER -

The moral implications of Kierkegaard's analysis of despair

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this